Promoting health through yarncraft: Experiences of an online knitting group living with mental illness

ABSTRACTThis study explored how people living with mental illness describe their experiences of knitting as a leisure occupation and whether knitting can create value and meaning and promote well-being. A qualitative design was used, based on the netnographic LiLEDDA method. Data, consisting of 600 posts, were collected from the internet, cleaned according to the LiLEDDA method, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings showed that knitting is ‘A way towards health’, indicating that knitting is a way to feel better and achieve a sense of competence; ‘A way to slow down’, indicating that knitting is a way to focus; and ‘A way of being occupied’, indicating that knitting affects the structure and balance of daily life and can be performed socially as well as non-socially. The knitters perceived knitting as a highly valued occupation that promotes health in both the short and long-term. Knitting contributed to an occupational identity and a sense of belonging, and the knitted products were rewarding for the knitter. Further studies about these transformative experiences and meanings for other people, and whether other creative occupations can generate the same experiences, is warranted.